Photos: Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, 1954-2013

Jose Goitia, AP03.04.2013

In this Oct. 28, 2000 file photo, Cuba’s President Fidel Castro, left, talks with Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez in Barinas, Venezuela, near Chavez’s hometown of Sabaneta. Venezuela’s Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced on Tuesday, March 5, 2013 that Chavez has died. Chavez, 58, was first diagnosed with cancer in June 2011.

Jose Goitia
/ AP

This undated file picture shows Venezulean President Hugo Chavez (R) as a child in Barinas, Venezuela. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez passed away on March 5, 2013 in Caracas after a long fight with cancer, Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced.HO
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National Guard personnel in riot gear charge on opposition students who protest demanding to know the real situation of President Hugo Chavez’s health, in Caracas on March 3, 2013. Chavez is still in charge and mulling political, social and economic policies even as he receives a new round of chemotherapy, his vice president said Saturday..LEO RAMIREZ
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The rear windshield of a van shows a graffiti that reads “It is life and Love. Viva Chavez!!” as it passes by the main entrance to the Military Hospital where President Hugo Chavez is being treated, in Caracas on February 22, 2013. Venezuela’s cancer-stricken President Chavez is still suffering from respiratory problems, and the evolution of that condition “has not been favorable,” the information minister said Thursday. The growing presence of Vice President Nicolas Maduro on state-run television, normally focused on ailing President Hugo Chavez, is giving analysts a sense that a transition is afoot in Venezuela.GERALDO CASO
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A man walks past a mural of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in Caracas were the streets are practically deserted on January 1, 2013. Somber Venezuelans began 2013 fretting over their ubiquitous and garrulous leader Hugo Chavez, wondering what the future holds as the president wages a tough battle with cancer in a Havana hospital. New Year’s Eve revelry was tempered, and official acts -- two open air concerts -- were canceled outright out of respect for the ex-paratrooper who has dominated this oil-rich country so thoroughly since taking power in 1999. Chavez underwent his fourth cancer-related surgery three weeks ago in Havana and has been bed-ridden ever since. Information on his condition is scant, with the government admitting only to “complications” in his recovery.LEO RAMIREZ
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Opposition students protest demanding to know the real situation of President Hugo Chavez’s health, in Caracas on March 3, 2013. Chavez is still in charge and mulling political, social and economic policies even as he receives a new round of chemotherapy, his vice president said Saturday..LEO RAMIREZ
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A taxi driver drives his cab in the surroundings of the military hospital in Caracas where Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has been hospitalized following his return from Cuba on the eve, on February 19, 2013. Chavez returned to Venezuela early on Monday after spending more than two months in Cuba for cancer surgery and treatment, announcing his surprise homecoming via Twitter. “We have arrived again to the Venezuelan motherland,” Chavez wrote.JUAN BARRETO
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A photo taken on July 03, 2012 shows Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez walking during a promotion ceremony in Caracas. President Hugo Chavez returned to Venezuela early on February 18, 2013 after spending more than two months in Cuba for cancer surgery and treatment, announcing his surprise homecoming via Twitter.JUAN BARRETO
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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (R) and Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad shake hands during a meeting at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas on June 22, 2012. President Hugo Chavez passed away on March 5, 2013 in Caracas after a long fight with cancer, Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced.JUAN BARRETO
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In this Oct. 12, 2001 file photo released by the Vatican, Pope John Paul II shakes hands with Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez during a private audience at the Vatican City Friday. Venezuela’s Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced on Tuesday, March 5, 2013 that Chavez has died. Chavez, 58, was first diagnosed with cancer in June 2011. (AP Photo/Arturo Mari, Vatican, File) ORG XMIT: CHA131Arturo Mari
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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (R) hugs his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during their meeting in Moscow, 27 July 2006. Venezuela has agreed to buy 24 Su-30 fighter jets from Russia, the head of Russia’s arms export agency said today after a meeting between the presidents. “Some contracts for three billion dollars (2.4 billion euros) have been signed over the last year and a half” including “for 24 Sukhois and 53 helicopters,” Sergei Chemezov, director of Rosoboron export, told reporters.ALEXANDER NEMENOV
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In this March 7, 2005 file photo, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez covers the ears of his grandson Manolito as they watch a display by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) aircrafts at the airport in Bangalore, India. Venezuela’s Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced on Tuesday, March 5, 2013 that Chavez has died. Chavez, 58, was first diagnosed with cancer in June 2011.Gautam Singh
/ AP

Venezuelan soldiers hold a poster of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez during the conmemoration of the 1992 failed coup led by Hugo Chavez, who was an army lieutenant colonel, against then president Carlos Andres Perez, in Caracas, on February 4, 2013. Ailing President Hugo Chavez, who had cancer surgery in December, is doing much better and recovering, Cuban leader Fidel Castro said in remarks published Monday.LEO RAMIREZ
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Supporters of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez cry during prayers at the chapel inside the Military Hospital in Caracas on March 5, 2013. Venezuela plunged deeper into an uncertain future on Tuesday as cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez took a turn for the worse, hit by a severe infection and breathing problems.LEO RAMIREZ
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People hold up candles during candlelight vigil for Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez to pray for his health as he remains in a hospital undergoing cancer treatment, in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Feb. 22, 2013. The government has not given details about the treatment Chavez is undergoing, and hasn’t identified the type or exact location of the tumors that have been removed from his pelvic region.Ariana Cubillos
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Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika (R) welcomes Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez late 14 August 2000 upon his arrival in Algiers. Algiers is the final leg of Chavez’s Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) tour, which has so far taken him to Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Libya and Nigeria, among others.-
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This file picture shows Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez holding a crucifix as he addresses the nation from the Miraflores presidential palace on April 14, 2002 in Caracas. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez passed away on March 5, 2013 in Caracas after a long fight with cancer, Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced.JUAN BARRETO
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In this file photo released on Feb. 15, 2013 by Miraflores Presidential Press Office, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez, center, poses for a photo with his daughters, Maria Gabriela, left, and Rosa Virginia at an unknown location in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013. Venezuela’s government says that President Hugo Chavez’s respiratory problems have gotten worse and that the ailing leader is in “very delicate” condition. Venezuela’s Communications Minister Ernesto Villegas said late Monday, March 4, 2013, in a statement read on national television that the cancer-stricken socialist leader has a “severe infection.”
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This file picture shows Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez making the ‘v’ sign after a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the presidential palace in Caracas on August 24, 2011 during the latter’s official visit to the country. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez passed away on March 5, 2013 in Caracas after a long fight with cancer.JUAN BARRETO
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